Lafayette, Marie Joseph Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de

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Lafayette, Marie Joseph Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de (1757–1834) French general and statesman. He fought for the colonists in the American Revolution, distinguishing himself in the Yorktown campaign (1781). Returning to France, Lafayette presented the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen to the States-General (1789). After the storming of the Bastille, he commanded (1789–91) the National Guard in the first phase of the French Revolution. In 1791 Lafayette lost popular support by ordering his troops to fire on a riotous crowd. In 1792, hounded by the Jacobins, he deserted to the Austrians. In 1799 he was rehabilitated by Napoleon and returned to France. He played a major role in the July Revolution (1830) that installed Louis Philippe as king of France.

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Lafayette, Marie Joseph Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de

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